The Buck Stops (Anywhere But) Here,? smirked a cartoon on Rupert Murdoch, a day after the News Corp CEO testified before British MPs on the phone hacking scandal at his UK newspaper. The 80-year-old CEO wouldn?t accept responsibility and wouldn?t step down as CEO, but would blithely pass the buck to his underlings at the televised testimony. Murdoch was the captain of the big ship, but refused to accept any guilt for the crimes on his deck.
Blame. Individuals and corporations are adept at deflecting blame, and shifting the guilt to someone else. ?Blame someone else and get on with life? is a guiding motto for many people, but when it manifests in intelligent, hard-charging, successful professionals, it is time to take a long, hard look, says Thomas DeLong in his book Flying Without A Net.
DeLong, the Philip J Stomberg professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, has watched many ambitious, driven, zealous professionals digging their own rabbit holes, and eking out a frustrating, stagnating career there. These individuals are invariably highly successful, ambitious and have enormous energy to get any task done. At the same time, they are anxious, insecure and fear change. DeLong calls them ?high-need-for-achievement? executives, who often get stuck doing the wrong thing over and over again, and are unable to make a switch. Why?
According to DeLong?s theory, the professional is trapped in doing repetitive tasks, which he or she may be good at. Over a period of time, the requirements of the job changes, the organisational structure changes, or the industry undergoes an upheaval. At these times, the hard-charging professional finds himself out of touch, and starts doing repetitive tasks, which Delong calls ?doing the wrong thing well.? A hotshot lawyer may find that the changing industry paradigm requires him to scout for clients too, or a brilliant surgeon may find that he has to be adept at dealing with the hospital management and insurance companies. Sometimes, professionals who are brilliant at line jobs baulk at having to lead large teams.
In all these cases, DeLong says, the brilliant professional is in danger of getting stuck in a rut. As organisations, industries and the society metamorphose, these individuals fall behind, and immediately start feeling frustrated and dispirited. For them, the constant reassurance of pats-on-the-back and positive feedback that they make a difference to the company or the society is critical. Flying Without A Net is for high-fliers who feel their wings clipped.
What should the professional do in such times? Delong suggests that it is time to change. For many executives adept at doing their tasks, change is horror. It forces them to learn new things, feel vulnerable and inadequate. For precisely this reason, they stay away from learning new skills and considering a change of track. However, the switch from ?doing the wrong thing well? to ?doing the right thing well? is not a straight road. In between, one must traverse the purgatory of ?doing the right thing poorly.?
This is tough, especially for the high-need-for-achievement individual. Learning new skills, changing career, moving to a new job or moving within the organisation requires one to be vulnerable and open to new learnings and experiences. This, DeLong insists, is the bitter pill for individuals who wish to reach the dizzying levels of ?doing the right thing well?.
As an expert in organisational behaviour, DeLong outlines how one can switch from the frustrating repetition of mundane jobs which you are good at, to finding greater purpose, meaning and fulfillment from work and life. Neatly divided into four sections with sub-sections, Flying Without A Net tells you how the smart pros dig deeper into their own holes on feelings of lack of purpose, isolation and insignificance. As he feels trapped, the high-need-for-achievement individual starts taking the wrong steps: He blames others, cooks up hectic schedules to keep himself busy, and starts comparing his career and achievements to others of his level. Worry sets in, compounding existing issues, and the individual feels too paralysed to take the critical steps to break out of the stasis.
Written in a light and un-academic way, Flying Without A Net frequently throws questions at the reader: When was the last time you confided in someone? How many hours do you set apart for your loved ones? Do you believe you are in the right organisation? The author narrates several incidents from his own life and career, as well as from the driven professionals he has coached and mingled with.
In the last section, DeLong offers advice on how one can take the dreaded trip through ?doing the right thing poorly? by making oneself vulnerable. Assuming that the individual has recognised the trap he is caught in, lesson one is to put your past behind, and not ruminate over your mis-steps and missed opportunities. The most important one comes next: make a team you can rely on. You could count on a boss, a mentor, a spouse, a friend, a priest? anyone who has the nerve to tell you that you are wrong, and advise you with your best interests in mind. This support system could be a network of friends, colleagues or relatives?it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the person/s should be willing to listen to you, and correct you when you stick to your established but flawed theories, preconceptions and prejudices.
After this, Delong advises: Don?t blink. When the time comes to make the critical change, for which you have been preparing, keep your eyes peeled, and pull the trigger. Once you have imbibed fresh learnings and summoned the courage, there is no going back. And, don?t hesitate to make the first move. Flying without a net is not flying blind, but making a leap of faith, with strategic planning.